Seal for strapping and the like



July 19, 1966 E. c. RUTTY 3,261,063

SEAL FOR STRAPPING AND THE LIKE Filed June 2, 1964 Z5] 53 id 34 32 id INVENTOR. EDWARD C. RUTTY BYW AT TORNEYS United States Patent 3,261,063 SEAL FOR STRAPPING AND THE LIKE Edward C. Rutty, Portland, Conn., assignor to The Stanley Works, New Britain, C0nn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed June 2, 1964, Ser. No. 372,017 Claims. (Cl. 24-23) The present invention relates to an improved seal for strapping and the like, and more particularly to a new and improved open seal particularly suited for forming secure joints on nonmetallic strapping.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an open seal which is not only capable of being stacked in a magazine or other suitable storage compartment from which it can easily to fed but which also provides a superior strap joint of high strength and minimum slippage and can be easily and effectively applied to either metallic or nonmetallic strapping.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide an improved open seal which readily distributes and minimizes local strains therein while forming the strap joint.

A further object of the invention is to provide a seal particularly well suited for use with nonmetallic strapping which provides a strap joint of superior holding power while possessing substantial freedom from side buckling by the strapping.

Still another object is to provide an improved seal which securely holds overlapping portions of smooth nonmetallic strapping-while being easy to apply, economical to manufacture and presenting a neat and compact appearance.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a strap joint utilizing the seal of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a seal embodying the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the seal of FIG. 2 and the strapping prior to joint formation; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, FIG. 1 illustrates the preferred embodiment of the strap joint, generally designated 10, comprising a clip or seal 12 circumscribing and securing against lateral movement the overlapping strap portions 14, 16. As shown, the undulated seal 12 has an outer surface 18 which is free from partially severed interlocking deformations thereby providing a neat appearance without injurious edges or projections. The strap joint may be formed by sealing tools which are well known in the art and which readily manipulate the metal seal into its circumscribing position. Although seal 12 may be made from any suitable material, it has been found that good results are obtained when using high tensile strength steel possessing sufiicient ductility to permit the strap joint forming operation.

As shown in the specific embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 3, the seal 12 is a generally rectangular element exhibiting an M-shaped transverse cross section and comprises a substantially flat or planar rectangular top or base portion 20 which, in the preferred embodiment, is slightly narrower than the width of the strapping to be secured. Integrally attached to the longitudinal edges of top portion 20 by means of arcuate channels 22 are side wall or lip portions 24 which generally flare outwardly and down- 3,261,063 Patented July 19, 1966 wardly from top portion 20. Side wall portions 24 are substantially straight, fiat or planar members having a generally rectangular configuration and being of substantially the same length as top portion 20 but only about one-half its Width. The free longitudinal edges 26 of side wall portions 24 define, due to the outwardly diverging nature of side walls 24, the outermost limits of the rectangular seal 12 and constitute the points of the respective side walls farthest from each other.

The curved channels 22, which impart to the seal 12 its M-shaped transverse cross-sectional configuration, have inner side parts connected to and diverging outwardly and upwardly from the top portion 20 and arcuate parts connected between the upper ends of the side parts and the side wall portions 24, both along the entire length of the respective elements. Channel portions 22 are offset from top portion 20 and extend in a smooth arcuate manner above the general plane thereof. Channel 22 integrally connects top portion 20 and side wall portions 24 along the entire longitudinal edges thereof and fixes the angle of divergence of the side walls 24. As best shown in FIG. 3, the angularity of the channel 22 is approximately equal to the angle of divergence between side walls 24, which angle may satisfactorily be an acuate angle of about 60 degrees or less.

According to the present invention, there is additionally provided on inner surface 28 of seal 12 a plurality of longitudinally spaced strap gripping members 30 extending transversely across the seal. As best shown in FIG. 4, gripping members 30 are integral raised ridges extending outwardly from surface 28, pairs of which define grooves 32 extending across the entire inner surface of seal 12 and extending to a depth below the coplanar flats lying between adjacent pairs of the ridges 30. According to the preferred embodiment, ridges 30 constitute the edges of grooves 32 which, as shown, are generally triangular in cross section and exhibit an angle of about degrees between the two sides thereof located on the seal 12. The ridges 30 protrude from inner surfaces 28 a sufficient distance to provide a gripping action which greatly increases the joint strength between the seal and the strapping. In this regard, ridges of a height of approximately 0.55" and less than one-third the thickness of the sheet metal seal as seen in FIG. 4 and less than the thickness of the nonmetallic strapping as seen in FIG. 3 have been found to provide excellent results on nonmetallic strapping. Advantageously, ridges 30 may be case hardened when use on metallic strapping is contemplated. As will be appreciated, the transverse gripping ridges 30 provide ex-. cellent contact and holding power not only on the top and bottom of the seal joint but on the sides thereof as well.

Because of the particular configuration of the present invention, the strains within the seal resulting from the joint forming operation are distributed over different 10- cations on the seal. As will be readily appreciated, the apex area of channels 22 is subjected only to the strain caused by forming the side walls 24 inwardly through an angle of about 60 degrees or less after which the stress force of the sealing tool tends to cause the side wall portions 24 and the channel portions 22 to act as a unit and pivot about the longitudinal edges of top portion 20. This distribution of the internal strains over different areas of the seal provides improved seal strength as well as greater efficiency of operation while at the same time ensuring improved surface contact between the gripping ridges 30 and the portion of the strapping at the seal joint. Further the improved M-shaped configuration provides four longitudinal pivot points which facilitate the enclosure of nonmetallic strapping in a manner which eliminates the undesirable side buckling of the strapping, provides greater surface contact and thereby efIectuates improved holding power within the strap joint.

From the foregoing it can be seen that the present invention provides an improved seal for strapping, particularly of the nonmetallic type, which seal permits the formation of a strap joint of high strength while providing a safe, neat and pleasing outer appearance. Additionally, the improved seal of the present invention permits the circumscribing retention of the strapping while distributing the stresses created within the seal and thereby improving the over-all strength thereof.

As will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, various modifications and adaptations of the structure above described will become readily apparent without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An open type seal for securing the overlapping portions of strapping and the like and adapted to be stacked for storage in a magazine comprising a generally rectangular metal body having a generally M-shaped transverse cross section, a substantially smooth outer surface and an inner surface containing a plurality of longitudinally spaced triangular grooves transversely extending thereacross, the sides of said grooves terminating in ridges extending outwardly of the inner surface to provide added gripping action and greatly increased joint strength between the seal and the strapping, said body comprising a generally flat, rectangular top portion and two flat side portions diverging downwardly from said top portion and integrally connected to said top portion along the longitudinal edges thereof by means of curved channel portions arcuately extending above said top portion, said flat side portions being generally rectangular and of the same length as said top portion, the free longitudinal edges thereof being farthest from said to portion and from each other, said channel portions integrally joining the edges of said side portions parallel to their respective free edges to the parallel longitudinal edges of said top portion along their entire length, the side and channel portions being additionally adapted to pivot about the longitudinal edges of said top portion.

2. An open type seal for securing overlapping portions of elongated strapping having a longitudinally extending generally rectangular sheet metal body with a generally M-shaped transverse cross section and comprising a generally flat, rectangular top portion and two flat side portions diverging downwardly from said top portion and integrally connected to said top portion along the longitudinal edges thereof by means of curved V-shaped channel portions arcuately extending above said top portion, said fiat side portions being generally rectangular and of the same length as said top portion, the free longitudinal edges thereof being farthest from said top portion and from each other, said curved channel portions integrally joining the edges of said side portions parallel to their respective free edges to the parallel longitudinal edges of said top portion along their entire length, the side and channel portions being additionally adapted to pivot about the longitudinal edges of said top portion.

3. An open type seal for securing overlapping portions of elongated strapping having a longitudinally extending generally rectangular sheet metal body with a generally M-shaped transverse cross section and comprising a generally flat top portion, two fiat side portions transversely spaced from said top portion and diverging downwardly with respect thereto, and intermediate channel portions connecting the side portions to the top portion having inner flat side parts diverging outwardly and upwardly from the longitudinal edges of the top portion and inclined at acute angles from the side portions, and arcuate parts connected between the upper ends of the side parts and the side portions.

4. A seal for securing overlapping portions of elongated nonmetallic strapping comprising a longitudinally extending sheet metal body having a substantially planar longitudinally extending base portion and substantially planar lip portions at the opposite transverse ends thereof, said base and lip portions being adapted to cooperate for clamping overlapping portions of nonmetallic strapping between faces thereof provided by an inner face of the sheet metal body; said inner face of the sheet metal body being formed to provide a plurality of longitudinally spaced pairs of transversely extending parallel sharply pointed ridges pointing outwardly from said inner face, substantially coplanar flats between adjacent pairs of parallel pointed ridges, and intermediate grooves between the parallel pointed ridges of each pair thereof extending to a depth below the plane of the coplanar flats; the pointed ridges being adapted to be embedded in the elongated nonmetallic strapping and being adapted to cooperate with the intermediate grooves to securely grip the overlapping portions of nonmetallic strapping upon application of the seal thereto.

5. The seal of claim 4 wherein the parallel pointed ridges have a height above the plane of the coplanar flats less than one-third the thickness of the sheet metal body and less than the thickness of the nonmetallic strapping.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,123,805 1/1915 Rothermel 24-23 1,398,288 11/1921 Watkins. 2,084,063 6/1937 Rebichon et a1. 2423 2,229,102 1/ 1941 Leslie 24-23 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,342,417 9/1963 France.

920,335 4/ 1963 Great Britain.

74,781 1/1932 Sweden.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

D. GRIFFIN, Assistant Examiner. 

3. AN OPEN TYPE SEAL FOR SECURING OVERLAPPING PORTIONS OF ELONGATED STRAPPING HAVING A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING GENERALLY RECTANGULAR SHEET METAL BODY WITH A GENERALLY M-SHAPED TRANSVERSE CROSS SECTION AND COMPRISING A GENERALLY FLAT TOP PORTION, TWO FLAT SIDE PORTIONS TRANSVERSELY SPACED FROM SAID TOP PORTION AND DIVERGING DOWNWARDLY WITH RESPECT THERETO, AND INTERMEDIATE CHANNEL PORTIONS CONNECTING THE SIDE PORTIONS TO THE TOP PORTION HAVING INNER FLAT SIDE PARTS DIVERGING OUTWARDLY AND UPWARDLY FROM THE LONGITUDINAL EDGES OF THE TOP PORTION AND INCLINED AT ACUTE ANGLES FROM THE SIDE PORTIONS, AND ARCUATE PARTS CONNECTED BETWEEN THE UPPER ENDS OF THE SIDE PARTS AND THE SIDE PORTIONS. 